Factors Associated With Overweight and Obesity Among Mexican Americans and Central Americans: Results From the 2001 California Health Interview Survey ORIGINAL RESEARCH (original) (raw)
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Preventing Chronic …, 2007
IntroductionHispanics are the fastest growing demographic group in the United States; however, "Hispanic" is a broad term that describes people who are from or whose ancestors are from multiple countries of origin. This study examines, separately, the social, cultural, and behavioral factors associated with overweight and obesity among Mexican American adults and among Central American adults.MethodsTo estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Mexican and Central Americans living in California, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey using SUDAAN software to account for the survey's multistage sampling design.ResultsOf the 8304 Mexican Americans participating in the survey, 36.8% were overweight and 26.2% were obese. Of the 1019 Central Americans, 39.2% were overweight and 22.2% were obese. Among Mexican American men, age and marital status were associated with overweight and obesity; and education, acculturation, health insurance status, health status, and use of vitamins were associated with obesity only. Among Mexican American women, age, education, number of children, health status, and health behavior were associated with overweight and obesity. Among Central American men, age, education, and access to health care were associated with overweight, whereas marital status, acculturation, health care, and binge drinking were associated with obesity. Among Central American women, number of children was associated with overweight and obesity; and age and education were associated with obesity only.ConclusionOur findings of high rates of overweight and obesity among Mexican and Central Americans in California indicate the need for a wide variety of effective weight-loss interventions targeting these populations, and the differences we found in the factors associated with overweight and obesity may suggest the need for unique intervention strategies for different Hispanic subgroups.
OBESITY AMONG THE HISPANIC AMERICANS
The Latinos are more likely to be 1.1 times more obese than the non-Hispanic whites.(Service’s Office of Minority Health, 2007). The Mexican American women were 30% more overweight compared to non-Hispanic whites. Compared to the national average the Hispanics were 10% more obese. Although the average population of obese and overweight women in the US was 62.1% yet the average for Mexican-American women was 73%. Data set from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) for 20 to 74 year olds and for period between 1976to 1980 and 2003 to 2006 showed a national average increase of 47% to 67% but 61% to 75% for Latinos. In 2001 to 2004, the office of the Minority Health reported that Latino children between the ages of 6 to 11years were 1.3 times likely to be overweight than their white counterparts. Similarly the national average increase in obesity or overweight for 6 to 11years age was 7 % to 17% but 12% to 24% for Latinos. In the same period the national average increase in overweight for the adolescents between the 12 to 19 years old was 5% to 18% but 8% to 21% for Latinos (NHANES, 2004).
Ethnicity & disease, 2006
To estimate the prevalence and risk factors of obesity in a sample of primarily urban Mexican Americans (the fastest growing segment of the US population), and to examine the association between obesity and co-morbid conditions. Subjects were participants from a cross-sectional, population-based prevalence study. Data were collected on 6038 noninstitutionalized self-identified Latinos of primarily Mexican American ancestry age > or = 40 years from six census tracts in Los Angeles County, California. Obesity was defined having a body mass index > or = 30.0 kg/m2. The overall prevalence of obesity was 50% (females 54% vs males 43%, P < .0001). Stepwise logistic regression analyses revealed that obesity was positively associated with being a former smoker (OR 1.5, P = .0009), being unemployed (OR 1.5, P < .0001), and with female sex (OR 1.3, P = .02). Obesity was negatively associated with being single or divorced (OR .8, P = .014), being a current smoker (OR .6, P < .00...
Salud Publica De Mexico, 2009
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We conducted a cross-sectional study among 1,717 children and adolescents of Mexican origin ages 5-19 years living in Mexico and Texas to explore the influence of country of birth and country of longest residence on their overweight and obesity status. Descriptive statistics were used to compare demographic and anthropometric characteristics of participants born and raised in Mexico (Mexicans), born in Mexico and raised in the United States (Mexican immigrants), and born and raised in the United States (Mexican-Americans). Univariate and multivariate nominal logistic regression was used to determine the demographic predictors of obesity adjusted by country of birth, country of residence, age, and gender. Almost half (48.8%) of the Mexican-Americans and 43.2% of the Mexican immigrants had body mass index at the 85th percentile or above, compared to only 29.3% of the Mexicans (P \ .001). Thus, Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants were more likely to be obese than their Mexican peers [Mexican-Americans: odds ratio (OR) = 2.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8-3.4); Mexican immigrants: OR = 2.2 (95% CI 1.6-3.0)]. In addition, males were more likely than females to be obese [OR = 1.6 (95% CI 1.2-2.1)], and adolescents 15-19 years of age were less likely than their younger counterparts [OR = 0.5 (95% CI 0.4-0.7)] to be obese. The high prevalence of obesity among children of Mexican origin in the United States is of great concern and underscores the urgent need to develop and implement obesity preventive interventions targeting younger children of Mexican origin, especially newly arrived immigrant children. In addition, future obesity research should take into consideration the country of origin of the study population to develop more culturally specific obesity interventions.
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Obesity, 2000
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